Page 27 of Michael

Ambra’s mouth opened and closed.

Diamond leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning her around towards the door.

“Call me when you are back home so that I know you are safe. I really wanted you to not have to come over tonight because I knew you and Michael had just gotten back, but I am glad you did. I missed you.”

“Ummm. Me too. Love you,” she whispered, her mind whirling as she tried to process this new chain of events.

“Love you too. And don’t be too hard on Michael. I told him to wait until you came back to New York because I didn’t want what is happening to me to get in the way of you both finally admitting you love each other. Now go home, rest, and then call him to come back so you can work it out. You were always meant to be together, and I need you both to finally be happy and stop getting on my last nerve with this friendship business.”

Her sister kissed her on the cheek again and then shut the door in her face.

Ambra shook her head over the strange turn of events and everything that had happened in only a matter of weeks.

Even though seeing her sister had given her some relief, now she had a whole new bunch of questions and knew there was more being hidden from her, especially by Diamond.

Ambra was tired and hurt that Michael had kept this from her. They would need to sort it out later—maybe not for a while yet, but she was now very worried for her sister and hoped that Ben would find out who had set her up, despite forcing her to marry him.

She opened the door to her apartment for the second time that night, and silence greeted her, making her feel bereft. She missed Michael’s presence, even though she was hurt and angry with him. She had gotten used to having him around, and her apartment now felt empty without him.

She took off her shoes and unbuttoned her pants, making her way to her bedroom. She was about to turn on the light when she saw a dark shadow move away from her window. Then the light suddenly came on, revealing Michael. He looked disheveled, his tired silver eyes looking into hers as he straightened up from leaning down to turn on her lamp.

“I tried leaving you alone for the night but couldn’t do it. Please don’t send me away tonight. I will just hold you until we fall asleep and then head out in the morning if you still want me to go.”

She lifted her chin and opened her mouth but then just nodded, too tired to fight to get him to go home. She also needed him to be near tonight because she was scared for her sister.

They undressed in silence and then moved to the bed at the same time and got in. She turned on her side with her back resting against his chest, and he pulled her tight against him, his nose in her neck, breathing in the scent of her. She laid her hand on top of his on her stomach and then closed her eyes.

“I am sorry about your sister Ambra.”

Her eyes popped back open.

“But I would do it again to have that time with you. The time we had changed our friendship into something more. I know now that we were always meant to be together, and seeing how much I hurt you is tearing me up inside. I am sorry baby. I can’t live without you and want you by my side. I have fallen in love with you and will fight for a future with you until you forgive me. I won’t be going anywhere.”

He waited silently behind her for her answer. But she couldn’t say anything just yet.

Then she felt a delicate kiss on her neck and heard a sigh. “Wherever you go, so will I,” he whispered his promise.

Ambra scowled and gave a tiny smile, closing her eyes and falling asleep in the arms of the man who had been her childhood friend, then her crush as a young teenager in love, and now her true love as a grown woman. She now knew her best friend as a man in every sense of the word. She knew all his faults, and despite them, she knew deep down inside that she still wanted to be with him and loved him as much as he professed to love her.

Oh, don’t worry. He isn’t getting away with this so easily.

Epilogue

Michael stood in the open door of his family’s chalet in the Swiss Alps and stared down at the diamond engagement ring nestled in the cushioned black box before snapping it shut and putting it back in his pocket. He glanced at his watch, and his heart raced in anticipation of Ambra arriving soon. He had planned this getaway to ask her to marry him.

He reflected on everything that had led up to this moment and thanked God that she raised that paddle that changed the course of their future. It had not been an easy time for them during the course of their relationship, as dark clouds had stained some of the early days of their romance, but they had worked through it. There had been a lot of groveling and sleeping on the couch, as he had refused to give her space to shut him out. All that had brought them to this point in their lives.

He checked his watch and then glanced at the gravel road, frowning a bit because she should have been here by now.

He took out his phone and opened the locator app that showed him where Ambra was when he needed to find her. He saw the blip of her location. She was close. He smiled and then froze when he saw the blip suddenly go dark.

He watched to see if it would come back on—perhaps it was just a glitch happening with the tracker. He then heard his phone ping, and he switched over to his text messages.

‘You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?’

He smirked and then leaned past the frame of the door to yell into the chalet. “Colin, I don’t need you anymore! Lock up for me when you leave please!”

He then turned and trotted towards his car with the look of a man who was about to chase after the woman he loved in a game of hide-and-seek that he would never tire of, proving to her that wherever she went, he would follow.

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